Dotty's Five W's And An H
by motown lady
Summary: After Amanda's return home from being on the run with Lee, Dotty decides to confront her daughter with questions only a reporter usually asks. Will Amanda be prepared to answer truthfully or be evasive once again? Set after "Stemwinder Part 2". My take on what could have happened.
1. Chapter 1

Dotty's Five W's And An H

Chapter 1

It was a long week as Amanda and her family tried settling back into a normal routine after her fugitive time with Lee.

Late that Friday evening as Amanda went around checking all the doors and windows to lock up Dotty had come into the kitchen to get her glass of milk and splash of wine and leaning against the counter for a moment, observed her daughter wondering why she hadn't shown the least little bit of exhaustion the last few days after that Federal mess she and the boys had to endure!

Phillip and Jamie usually loved to stay up on Fridays knowing there was no school for the weekend. But they went to bed early that night, tired but satisfied that their mother was back home safe and sound and of her answer to their questions of what happened while she was running from the law.

She simply said that she was sworn to secrecy so she couldn't tell them much of anything that happened.

But Dotty only believed part of that rubbish!

When she had questions for Mr. Melrose about who Lee Stetson was or what was going on, all he told her was, "I'm not at liberty to say."

She bristled however as he would ask her questions over and over about Amanda's actions just before she had taken off that day with Lee.

Thank goodness Joe King had arrived to help calm the waters and look after the family until Amanda came home!

But looking back on the day he arrived she realized he couldn't say much either after he'd talked to Mr. Melrose.

But she wasn't angry at Joe.

Right now, it was Amanda she was upset with.

There was a special bond between them even through the loss of her late husband Carl, Amanda's father.

And later with Amanda's divorce from Joe when Amanda had Phillip and Jamie to raise alone, Dotty had offered to move in to help her daughter out which Amanda was truly grateful for.

But now, she wondered why she felt like she didn't know her daughter at all any more?

She then noticed Amanda coming back from checking the French doors and asked her, "Everything locked up?"

Amanda nodded and yawned slightly."Yes, Mother. Think I'll head up now. It's been a long day."

But as she kissed Dotty's cheek and headed for the stairs she heard, "We need to talk, Amanda. There are questions I need answers to here that do not require Federal agents. Please go sit down."

As Amanda headed slowly for the family room couch she nervously thought, Uh-oh...This doesn't sound good at all.

Sitting down Amanda waited with bated breath as Dotty remarked, "Changed my mind on my milk for tonight. I'll make us some tea, instead. It's going to be a while."

Amanda's mind raced. What is she about to ask me, and what can I tell her truthfully?

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Dotty's Five W's And An H

Chapter 2

Dotty had gone to the kitchen to make tea as Amanda anxiously waited for her on the family room couch.

When Dotty came over finally with the tea tray and put it down on the coffee table she noted Amanda's worried expression and shaking her head remarked, "Oh stop looking like that, Dear."

Amanda lightly shrugged. "Like what, Mother?"

Sitting down next to her she poured the tea commenting, "Like I'll have you arrested if you give me the wrong answers."

Giving Amanda her cup and taking her own then she took a sip and put it down. "All right. I'm going to ask you some pretty direct questions that I hope you'll be able to answer. I'm not trying to be intrusive, Darling. But there was a time that we shared just about everything with each other because that's the kind of relationship we always had and I would hope we still have, hmm?"

Amanda nodded as she sipped her tea thinking, Gosh! Just how bad was this going to get?

Dotty continued. "You don't need to answer me right away but I need you to really think about them. You know that my concern here only comes from love, don't you?"

Amanda nodded and replied softly taking her mother's hand in her own, "Yes, Mother. But as I've already said, I can't tell-"

Dotty released her hand from Amanda's and put it up answering impatiently, " Yes, I already know the Federal part of it! Mr. Melrose explained that the boys and I have to forget what went on here with phone tapping and agents running in and out of this house. But my questions are on a more personal level, Dear."

Amanda sighed. "Okay, Mother. What is it?"

Dotty asked slowly as she gestured, "Who is this Lee Stetson you've been mentioning? What is the true nature of your relationship? When did you meet the man? Where did you meet him? Why haven't you mentioned him before all this? And finally... How could you have just left your family the way you did for a complete stranger?! At least to us, he's a complete stranger."

Seeing Amanda's blank look when she finished Dotty cupped her chin and bringing it over to face her remarked sadly with a sigh, "I love you with all my heart, Panda. But it's absolutely breaking with the thought that if you have any sort of feelings for this man, that you can't or won't trust me enough to share it with me. Being in love is the most wonderful feeling in the world. I had it with your daddy and I truly want that for you again, Dear. As I told you a long time ago, sometimes it is painful to admit your true feelings. But if you find yourself absolutely sure about this man I want to share in that happiness, all right?"

As Amanda nodded slowly Dotty letting go gently stood up and took the tray back to the kitchen and putting it on the counter commented quietly, "I'm going up now but one more thing. Looking back on when you were with Dean, I realize now that you didn't have the same look on your face then as you do now so he must be special. Goodnight, Darling."

As Dotty headed up Amanda was floored at her mother's line of questioning!

What was she to do now? she wondered.

Thinking it over carefully she decided to call Lee and picking up the phone dialed his apartment.

He answered on the third ring. "Stetson."

Amanda gulped. "Hi. It's me. We need to talk. I know it's late, but can I come over?"

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Dotty's Five W's And An H

Chapter 3

When Amanda went to Lee's a half hour later and he let her inside he saw how upset she seemed and asked, "Want a drink?"

Amanda shook her head as she put down her purse and sat on the sofa.

Lee then joined her. "Okay. So, what happened?"

Amanda swallowed hard. "Mother and I had a talk. Well, she mostly talked while I listened to her. I wasn't expecting the subject matter she came up with, however."

Lee furrowed his brow. "Oh? Which was?"

Amanda deeply sighed as she looked at him. "You. She wanted to know who you were. Where and when we met, what our relationship is, why I never brought you up before in conversation."

Lee noticed her eyes well up and he took her hand. "Hey...What is it?"

Amanda gulped and answered softly, "She also asked how could I ever have left the family for a total stranger? I mean, you aren't to me but to them-"

Lee half smiled and nodded. "I-I get it. So, what did you tell her?"

Amanda shrugged. "I didn't say anything. I was too shocked. I didn't really know what to say, anyway."

Lee shook his head lightly as he chuckled. "Wow. That's a switch. Amanda King rendered speechless-"

Amanda looking hurt commented, "I'm glad this whole thing amuses you, Lee. You don't have to live with her and constantly lie about your job-"

Lee interjected. "Ho-Hold on! You don't think I'd like to just go home with you now and introduce myself to her if I could?"

Amanda asked, "Why not? She already knows I took off with you-"

Lee put up a hand. "Wait! You know perfectly well why not! I won't put your family in jeopardy just to satisfy your mother's unique brand of curiosity."

Amanda nodded slowly realizing something finally and replied,"Ohh, I see now."

Lee baffled remarked, "See what?"

Amanda stood up from the sofa and walking over to the living room window to look out commented, "Now I know what Mother really wanted to know. I mean, other than who you were...Hmph."

Lee stood up then as well and sighed answering, "Ok, Honey. Could you fill in the blanks, please? I'm a bit confused as to where this is going."

Amanda then asked slowly, "Lee, what made you decide to tell me you loved me? Was it that we were in danger and we might not have seen each other again?"

Lee flustered suddenly, "Yea-No! I was going to tell you anyway. I told you that I just wasn't ready to tell you when I first realized it."

Amanda nodded. "Which was when exactly?"

Lee groaned. "Oh, for the love of-! Can we talk about that later and get back to why you think your mother asked those questions about me? What was she really wondering?"

Amanda shrugged uneasily. "Well, we were gone a while and it was just the two of us. I guess Mother might have thought that things may have happened..."

Lee was taken aback as he stared at Amanda realizing what she was getting at! "Oh, my God! When would we have had time for that?! We were essentially running for our lives, trying to clear our names."

Amanda cocked her head at him."We did have a place to rest, you know? We weren't always running."

Going over to her slowly Lee swallowed and took her hand. "I know. I guess we do have a lot to talk about. But look. This whole thing is new for both of us, huh? I mean now that things are calming down we can set aside some time soon and really talk about things. With no pressure from either side, okay?"

Amanda nodded. "Right."

Looking at her watch she went to get her purse."I'd better get going."

Lee walked her to the door and as they kissed goodnight he asked, "So, what are you going to tell your mother?"

Amanda sighed and with a light smile answered, "The truth. At least our own brand of it. Goodnight."

She left and Lee getting ready for bed wondered how much things were actually going to change for them in the near future and was he ready for it?

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Dotty's Five W's And An H

Chapter 4

Saturday morning Amanda woke feeling more rested than she had in a while.

Getting up she noticed it was 8:30 and gathering her clothes she headed into the shower deciding to talk to Dotty about Lee, knowing exactly what she was going to tell her.

But a while later as she came downstairs she was startled to see flowers on the counter and Lee in her kitchen talking to her mother!

Amanda gulped and tried to not appear nervous as she greeted both and said to Lee, "Good morning. What are you doing here? Did we have work I didn't know about today?"

Dotty smiled."No, Darling. He came by to introduce himself and very thoughtfully brought these flowers over. But he was just about to explain some things-"

Dotty then looking at herself chuckled. "Uh, well...He just got here though and I'm not dressed. But as long as you're here, I'll just run up and change. Excuse me."

As Dotty headed up she called out, "There's coffee and muffins if he'd like, Dear!"

Amanda nodded calling back. "Yes, I know, Mother. Thank you!"

When she heard Dotty's bedroom door close she turned to Lee asking, "What in the Sam Hill are you doing here, Mister? We didn't talk about you coming over! Remember? Our own brand of the truth? I was ready to tell her my version without you being here. Wait. You didn't already meet the boys, did you?"

Lee pulled her close giving her a kiss and placing his finger over her lips he said quickly, "No. I saw Joe bring the boys out of the house when I was pulling up to the curb. No one saw me, okay? It's gonna be all right. But I thought maybe I could help you a bit here."

Amanda sighed. "I forgot the boys were with Joe today. But help me, how? Your showing up is just gonna make her be more suspicious, don't you see?"

Lee shrugged with a light smile. "Yeah, but if I don't appear at all it's as though you're ashamed to bring me around or that you do have something to hide. This way, she will know only what I tell her. Do you have poppyseed muffins by any chance?"

Amanda exasperated removed herself from his embrace and tersely answered arms over her chest, "Over by the stove, Mr. I-Don't- Eat -Breakfast. And you can just get your own coffee today-"

Just then Dotty came down and was appalled at Amanda's rudeness! "Amanda Jean! Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, Missy?"

Looking at Lee she shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry. Her late father and I raised her better than this."

Dotty then replied looking at her daughter, "I believe you owe your friend an apology, don't you?"

Amanda sighed with contriteness giving Lee a pointed look thinking quickly. "I'm-I'm sorry, Lee. It's just that you must have other things to do on a day off than to come over here, right?"

Taking the hint from Amanda's face Lee realized he did put her in a bit of a spot after all and slowly nodded. "It's all right. But I knew your mother must have had some concerns about the time we were away and I wanted to ease her mind if I could. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry. I really should have called first before dropping by like this."

Dotty sensed the ice in the room melting a bit and smiled, "Well, you're here now. Why don't we all sit down and chat for a while, hmm? I'll get us some coffee. How do you like your coffee, Mr. Stetson?"

Lee and Amanda chimed together, "Cream, no sugar."

When Dotty's back was to them as she prepared the cups Lee kissed Amanda's temple lightly whispering, "We'll make this okay. I promise..."

TBC

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	5. Chapter 5

Dotty's Five W's And An H

Chapter 5

Dotty came back to the kitchen table bringing coffee for Lee, Amanda and herself and noticed Lee's smile as he chewed and swallowed on a bite of the poppy seed muffin from his plate. "It is good, isn't it?"

Amanda passed Lee's cup to him as he replied, "It sure is, Mrs. West. Amanda, you've outdone yourself as usual. Mmm..."

Dotty was puzzled. "Oh? You've had these before, then?"

Amanda gave a warning kick to Lee under the table answering quickly, "Y-Yes he has, Mother. Sometimes I bring them to our office meetings."

Dotty nodded with a smile. "That's certainly thoughtful, Dear."

Clearing his throat Lee with a slight glare to Amanda stated, "Well, now. You had some questions for me, Mrs. West? Please. Feel free to ask me anything you'd like."

Amanda shot him a wide eyed glance as Dotty looked on at the two shaking her head. "Amanda, relax. I'm not the CIA, for heaven's sake. It's just that you've never talked about your coworker before and I just wondered how you met the man. But why it should make you uncomfortable? I don't understand-"

Amanda swallowed shrugging lightly. "It's not that, Mother. But you may be making Lee feel that way."

Amanda then looked at Lee apologetically. "I'm sorry if you feel put on the spot-"

Lee putting his hand up slowly stopped her replying gently, " It's okay, Amanda. It was my idea to come here."

Looking at Dotty he stated, "Mrs. West, Amanda and I met almost four years ago at the train station."

Lee looked at Amanda to continue by adding, "You were dropping someone off that day, right?"

Amanda knew by instinct that he was giving her an easy way through the situation and nodding replied, "Yes, my boyfriend at the time, Dean MacGuire. He worked for the Weather Bureau then."

Then looking Dotty's way she continued, "You see Mother, I had just finished dropping Dean off and was headed back to my car when Lee approached me in a waiter's suit asking me to deliver a package to a man on the train for a commercial-"

Dotty asked, "But I thought IFF did documentaries?"

Lee smiled. "We do, but they roped me into helping out that one day since their regular man was out sick. Anyway, we had to later scrap the commercial."

Amanda nodded. "Yes, because I got on the wrong train and lost the package. Anyway, Lee and I ran into each other again when I went to try to get that job at Honeycutt Typewriters?"

She shuddered remembering, "The man who interviewed me for the position made me very uncomfortable so I left. But on my way out to the parking lot I saw Lee getting out of a cab."

Lee nodded. "We got to talking and I asked her if she was still looking for work, because my boss at the moment wanted to meet her to see if she wanted a position at the place I was working at which was IFF."

Dotty smiled nodding. "So you told him about your typing ninety words a minute-"

Amanda sighed. "If you don't count typos, yes."

Lee knew by then he'd have to tell more and sighed. "Mrs. West, I lost my parents when I was four and lived with different relatives until age seven when my uncle Colonel Robert Clayton of the U.S. Air Force took me to live with him. I lived in various areas to my teen years as his posts took him all over the world. Eventually, he decided I needed to finish high school and go onto college back here. After college, I joined IFF where I've been ever since."

Amanda then answered, "Mother, Lee and I are coworkers and friends. I went with him when we had all that Government trouble because he needed help and because I trusted him to keep me safe. I also knew that the Government was being misled about the two of us and if I stayed, I would have been in a jail cell not able to be here for you at all. I'm really sorry you and the boys were frightened so badly, but I'm grateful Joe was here to help you through it until I got home."

She sighed and taking Dotty's hand added, "But beyond working and being friends? We-We honestly don't know at this point. We haven't had a chance to really talk about it being so busy lately, you know?"

Dotty thought for a moment and then asked them both, "But you have considered it? I-I'm not pressuring you. I'm just asking."

Lee half smiled at Dotty. "We understand your concern, Mrs. West. You know being a bachelor all these years, I've been pretty much a loner. But I can honestly say that I truly care about your daughter and wouldn't think of hurting her for the world."

After a short silence from all three Amanda queried, "So, Mother? Are you feeling better about what we've told you? Because when and if I decide anything I'll have a family meeting with you and the boys, all right?"

Dotty nodded getting up from the table as the other two followed suit. "All right. Well. Thank you for coming by, Mr. Stetson. It was very nice meeting you officially-"

Amanda puzzled asked, "Officially?"

Dotty stated, "I've only heard about him but hadn't seen him. Remember, Darling?"

Amanda nodded. "Oh, of course."

Lee looked at his watch answering, "I've got to be going now. Meeting a friend for a squash game."

Taking Dotty's hand he shook it gently. "It was very nice meeting you as well, Mrs. West. Take care."

Amanda glanced at her mother and gesturing to the refrigerator commented."I'll walk him out and be right back, Mother. I added some things to the grocery list if you want to look them over-"

Dotty pulled Amanda close before she walked out of the kitchen whispering, "Eleven."

Amanda baffled replied, "What?"

Dotty smiled. "Remember that number, Dear, as in "from one to ten?"

Amanda realizing what she meant rolled her eyes and sighed walking Lee out to the driveway.

As Amanda closed the front door on their way out Lee motioned toward the house, "What was all that about? Did I pass inspection in there?"

Amanda shook her head. "Yes. Only next time we should have an excuse for you not to come over."

Lee grinned shrugging."Why? It was fine, Honey."

Amanda groaned. " Oh, sure it was. Joe was green after he first met Mother. This went a little better than that time."

Lee got into his car. "Well don't forget, that was the first time you brought someone serious home to meet your mother. After all, your father wasn't there either. There had to be pressure on her end as well, you know?"

As Lee closed the driver's side door he started the car and lowered the window looking at Amanda as she then nodded continuing, "Yeah. Well that time Joe and I were thinking about marriage and here with you, it's-"

Amanda stopped as she noticed Lee's nervous expression and gulped. "Oh, um. W-Well, I know we're not anywhere in that area at all. F-Forget I said anything, huh? I'll-I'll see you Monday."

Lee hesitated and then nodding started his car up. "Y-Yeah. See you Monday..."

Giving a slight wave to her as he left he thought shaking his head, Where the hell did that come from? I love her, but man...Am I ready for anything close to that?

And as Amanda watched him go down the street she shook her head and turning back towards the house she berated herself thinking, What is the matter with you, Amanda? Do you wanna scare the guy off? He already said he loves you. Let that be enough for now!

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Dotty's Five W's And An H

Chapter 6

Lee and Amanda came to work Monday morning separately determined to act as if Friday's discussion first with Dotty and then with each other in Amanda's driveway didn't happen.

Coming into Billy's office they sat down with Francine as Billy went over the case load for the day.

As he continued on he and Francine had noticed the two were listening, but not really there in a sense.

Billy noticed Amanda had been taking notes but he thought, I hadn't asked her to write any of this down.

Then taking notice of Lee, he had this far away look in his eyes that told Billy that something was up but he couldn't be sure what it was.

He decided to test them and looking at Amanda asked, "So, Amanda. Are you ready for the milk run I've assigned the two of you? You know exactly what to do, correct?"

Amanda jotting things down on her notepad suddenly looked up and queried, "What, Sir?"

Billy gave a slight smile and glancing at Francine rolled his eyes as he answered, "The milk run? Where is it going to be?"

Amanda then realized guiltily as she looked at Lee and then back at Billy; she really hadn't paid attention and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Sir. Could you name the place again, please?"

Lee interjected uncomfortably, "It was the Kennedy Center right, Billy?"

Billy and Francine shared a worried look and then Billy sighed defeatedly. "Meeting adjourned. Francine, you take Amanda out for a break, while I talk to Lee for a moment. Dismissed!"

As everyone got up and Amanda followed Francine out of the office Billy gestured Lee to the couch. "Start talking. What's wrong with the two of you today? You're way off on the assignment I'm sending you on."

Lee shrugged, trying to be nonchalant, answered lightly, "What do you mean? I was listening. Sort of."

Billy sighed. "Look, Man. Francine and I know how hard things must have been for you both from the Stemwinder mess. You never told me anything about your time alone other than the debriefing part of it, so if you want, I'll be your sounding board."

Lee deeply sighed. Billy was his boss but also one of his best friends. Would he understand about his relationship change with Amanda? He wasn't sure.

Thinking carefully he mused, If I tell him, would it screw up our jobs? Smyth would have a field day with it, I'm sure.

Finally deciding to go with his gut he played out the scenario to the hilt stating with a exaggerated groan, "Well, it was okay at first. You know, Amanda would get coffee ready in the morning. Then she'd make eggs. Which was fine, except I don't like breakfast other than my doughnut routine. But then she pointed out that we had to keep it simple since we were supposed to be hiding out. Then there was the bathroom stuff..."

Billy cleared his throat not sure if he wanted to hear the rest of it. "Uh, what-what kind of bathroom stuff?"

Lee gave a slight wince and cocked his head to one side. "I'm sure you remember how it was with Jeannie at first?"

Billy shrugged as Lee got up from the couch and paced saying, " C'mon! Really? Okay. Is it too much to ask that she not hang her bra and other things over the shower rod and leave them there? But what really set me on edge was my lucky comb-"

Billy smirked. "Lucky comb? Wh-What do you mean, lucky comb?"

Lee sighed and remarked, "I mean it was my lucky comb because just one tooth on it was missing. I-I forget how it happened, it was years ago but it doesn't matter. Anyway, she broke another tooth on it. Can you believe that?"

Billy swallowed in mirth. "How-How did that happen?"

Lee sighed in mock disgust. "She said something got stuck in the sink drain and she didn't have anything else to use so she "borrowed" it to fish the thing out, whatever it was. Geez!"

Billy smiled. "So even after all that, you still managed to survive that case, correct?"

Lee narrowed his eyes answering thickly, "You're making fun of me, aren't you?"

Billy shook his head chuckling. "No, of course not. But it can't be worse than what Jeannie and I endured the first night my parents came over for dinner at our new house. She made pot roast and accidentally over heated it so it was a crisp meal along with the rock hard vegetables she served. I yelled, she yelled and then it was over."

Lee shook his head confusedly. "I'm sorry. What happened?"

Billy sighed remembering. " She wound up going home to her parents place while I was stuck cleaning up everything and listening to my mother go on complaining about things saying, "You know, William, if you had just waited a bit longer she might have gotten the hang of cooking. All you had to do was call me over, Son. I would have been more than happy to help her."

Lee nodded realizing how thick of a story he had laid on Billy and commented shrugging. "Well, it wasn't all that bad. I suppose I exaggerated a bit."

Billy egging him on sighed. "I know. You two weren't gone long enough for anything that monumental. It's only one in a series of marriage tests that you won't ever have to face if you're lucky."

Lee perplexed nervously asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Billy gestured to him. "You are a confirmed bachelor, Scarecrow. There's no one trapping you into anything you aren't ready for, you know?"

Lee cleared his throat avoiding Billy's stare and replied as he went to the door, "Yeah. You're right about that. Well, I'm gonna head upstairs to the "Q". See what files I can get done. Thanks for the talk, Billy."

Billy smiled. "Any time, Lee. I'll let Amanda know when she returns. And if you two can get past your awkwardness, maybe you can finish your assignment. After all, you two are one of my best teams."

With a half smile and nod as he glanced at Billy, Lee left the office.

Meanwhile Francine had taken Amanda to the Conservatory for their talk and asked with a sigh, "Okay. So, what's up?"

Amanda shrugged. "What do you mean?"

Francine shook her head. "You two acted more like strangers in that office than you've ever acted before. What's eating you?"

Amanda sighed. "I don't know what you're talking about, Francine. I'm fine."

Francine queried slowly, "Oh, c'mon! Something happened while you were hiding out, right? Now, give. What was it that irritated you so much about him? There had to be something. People, that wind up in that close proximity for a while without meaning to tend to get on each other's nerves, you know?"

Amanda thought, She's not going to let this go. She's like a dog after a bone!

She then quickly put up her hand with a whopper of a story in mind! "Okay. Maybe I'm too sensitive because I haven't had to share a bathroom with a man since my divorce. But it's petty things."

Francine groaned. "Sometime today, can you give me a clue?"

Amanda shrugged. "Well, other than wet towels laying around, he would leave the toilet seat up."

Francine made a face sighing. "Ugh! That's certainly disgusting. I wouldn't call that one petty. Really? Why do they always do that?"

Amanda shook her head. "I know. I'm always after my boys to not do that since they share their bathroom with my mother."

Francine nodded quickly wanting to move the conversation along. "Right, right. What else?"

Amanda winced coming up with the biggest lie she could think of. "Well, he accidentally used my toothbrush-"

Francine grumbled interjecting. "Geez! Why for God's sake?!"

Amanda shrugged. "Well, the first night we were there, he said he forgot to bring his and thought I wouldn't mind since he rinsed it off-"

Francine winced. "The man is usually meticulous to a fault. What was he thinking?"

Amanda shook her head. "I just don't know. Why would he think using my toothbrush was okay? Anyway, the next morning when we did some errands, I bought a two pack of tooth brushes to make sure that never happened again."

Francine replied, "Thanks for the heads up. Guess I'll have to do the same if I get a case out of town with him or anyone again. Okay. Anything else?"

Amanda shook her head. "No, but it does help to talk about it. Thank you."

Francine half smiled. "No problem. Let's head back..."

As Amanda came back to the "Q" office she saw Lee immersed in something on the computer and sitting down at her desk asked, "Need some help there?"

Lee broke away to look at her briefly and shook his head. "No, thanks. So...you and Francine were gone a while. Anything you want to talk about?"

Amanda shook her head distractedly. "No. How about you? Billy seemed a bit upset with both of us but when he just talked to you, I was worried. Everything okay?"

Lee put down the file he was working on and offhandedly waved it off as he got up from his chair to go to her. " No, no. Everything was fine. It was just... Aw, hell. Amanda... About our talk on Friday-"

But Amanda quickly said, "Lee, I'm sorry I said what I said. It was very presumptuous of me. I know I have a bad habit of rambling when I get nervous or scared, but after that talk with Mother, I didn't know what to think and I certainly would understand if you want to end this thing with us now. Whatever it is, okay?"

Lee knelt in front of her smiling and taking her hand kissed it gently while looking deep into her eyes. "Amanda King, I meant what I said before we left town. I do love you. More than I ever thought possible and I know you feel the same. So any decisions about down the road plans we will talk through and make together soon, okay?"

They kissed tenderly and as they parted said chuckling together, "Without Mother's help."

Meanwhile, Billy and Francine met in the bullpen.

Billy asked, "So, did you find out anything?"

Francine sighed. "Nothing to call the papers about. You?"

Billy shrugged. "No. Nothing I really believe, knowing Amanda. But then Lee is trained to keep secrets."

Then a thought came to Francine and she began to giggle. "Oh, my God! Wh-why didn't I think of this before!"

Billy stared at her strangely. "Francine, what is your problem?"

Francine clearing her throat to compose herself put up her hands to gesture to him answering. "What if, in an awkward moment, they accidentally "saw" each other? And they told us those ridiculous stories to cover it up?"

Billy shook his head. "Have you been sniffing too much nail product, Desmond?"

Francine looked at her boss with disbelief. "Oh, c'mon! It's possible, isn't it? Don't tell me you bought any of what Scarecrow told you. What did he say?"

Billy smiled. "Ladies first."

Francine huffed. "Fine. Amanda said he left the toilet seat up, used her toothbrush and left towels laying around. Your turn."

Billy shook his head. "He said she left bras and other things hanging over the tub and she made breakfast which he doesn't eat."

When Francine was about to reply, Billy stopped her answering, "Look. Whatever happened while Lee and Amanda were hiding out is between them. If there's something they want us to know, they'll tell us. Let's get back to work."

But as they each went back to their duties Billy thought for a moment about Francine's wild theory and shook his head. Not in a thousand years...

The End


End file.
